Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (April 30th, 1947 – June 15th, 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West German taxi driver, and had significant press coverage resulting from an online sex scandal in 2004. Career Prior to EatEnders, Grantham appeared in Doctor Who as Kiston, an engineer in the service of the Daleks in 1984’s Resurrection of the Daleks. A year later, he joined EastEnders as Den Watts, the landlord of The Queen Vic. Julia Smith, one of the co-creators of EastEnders, was aware of Grantham's crime but still let him play Den, saying that he had done his time. Grantham's character proved popular with viewers, and Den (along with his wife Angie) became one of the biggest and most popular fictional couples of all time. Grantham soon became friends with Angie's actress, Anita Dobson, who also forgave him for the murder. The scene where Angie gave Den divorce papers on the 1986 Christmas Day two-parter had 30 million viewers, making it the most viewed UK soap episode of all time. Crimes Murder conviction On December 3rd, 1966, Grantham attempted to rob a taxi driver, Felix Reese, in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, West Germany. In a struggle between the two men, Reese died after being shot in the head. In his statement to the police following his arrest, Grantham said that he did not know the gun was loaded and it had gone off during the struggle, which would have resulted in a conviction for manslaughter had a jury believed this version of events. However, at his trial in 1967, he was subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Although he had committed the murder in West Germany, he served the entirety of his sentence in various British prisons. This was because soldiers and officers convicted of any criminal offence that warrants a sentence of over two years are automatically transferred to Her Majesty's Prison Service, since they are also automatically dishonourably discharged. Grantham was released in 1977, having served 10 years. While he was in Leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire, he acted in several plays for inmates and members of the public, and edited the prison newspaper. He was encouraged to get more involved in acting professionally by the convicted former Labour Party politician T. Dan Smith, who was also an inmate at Leyhill in the mid-1970s. He also met actress Louise Jameson during her visit to Leyhill in the mid-1970s; she had also encouraged him to take up acting and he became good friends with her. Online sex scandal In May 2004, a Sunday newspaper printed photographs of Grantham exposing himself and masturbating whilst sucking his finger in a sexually-suggestive manner via a webcam from his dressing room to an undercover reporter named "Amanda."22 Grantham also allegedly dressed as Captain Hook whilst pleasuring himself, and insulted several cast members of ''EastEnders, ''including Shane Richie (Alfie Moon), Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler), Kim Medcalf (Sam Mitchell) and Jessie Wallace (Kat Moon). Grantham's response to the crimes Leslie Gratham was incredibly remorseful about the murder of the German taxi driver, despising himself for what he did. But he remained unapologetic for shooting him, never seeking forgiveness from his widow and daughter. He also couldn't look his widow in the eyes during court. In his response to the sex scandal, Grantham released a statement which read, "I am wholeheartedly ashamed of my behaviour and feel that I have let down my colleagues, as well as my friends and family." He also added, "In some small recompense I intend to make a donation to charity as a mark of my apology." He maintained in later interviews that he 'was set up'. He attempted suicide three times as a result of the scandal. Death Grantham passed away on June 15th, 2018. Tributes were made by many EastEnders fans, and even Anita Dobson gave a speech about Grantham and how great she thought he was. Gallery 00CE85B91000044C-5848069-image-m-127_1529075222190.jpg|Grantham (right) after his arrest for murder. Category:On & Off Villains Category:Remorseful Category:Redeemed Category:Murderer Category:Suicidal Category:Deceased Category:Male Category:Fallen Heroes Category:Grey Zone Category:Destroyer of Innocence